Spreading the disease of knowledge. Keeping you informed of the problems caused by the most dangerous threat to our planet... ourselves, and reporting on possible solutions to those problems.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Gunning Down Tasmanias Old Growth Forests

A worldwide protest took place outside Australian embassies in America, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom last week, demonstrating against the destruction of old-growth forests in Tasmania.

The forests under threat are home to the world tallest hardwood trees, the Eucalypts, and also endangered wildlife species such as the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle.

The protests are aimed at billion-dollar logging giant Gunns Ltd, who routinely chop down the equivalent of 44 football fields per day. The majority of this plunder is woodchipped and made into disposable paper products. Gunns has also resorted to biological warfare, killing hundreds of thousands of native mammals using carrots laced with a lethal super-toxin listed as a biological weapon in the U.S.

20 activists and environmental groups are being sued by the woodchipping giant, to the tune of 6.3 million Australian dollars. Gunns claims that the protests have damaged their business and reputation.